To say that Twilight Sparkle liked the idea of an existing multiverse was an understatement. She was obsessedover it. Almost to the point where Spike had to remind her every day about her monthly friendship reports to the princesses. She’d reassure him that she never forget, but Spike was still concerned. Reading any and all books about multiverses and alternate timelines became the number one thing to do in her spare time, and even when she spent time with her friends every now and then, as soon as she reads the various books on multiverses, Spike would get an uneasy feeling that she might forget about them and go back to her old, antisocial ways.
After a while, it seems that Twilight had discovered all there was to know about the multiverse, alternate realities and timelines, and other worlds and universes just like their own. That is until after an adventure involving an old library is when she discovered an old spell book about other worlds accessible via a complex spell that summons a portal to it. And for the past several weeks, she’s been studying it tirelessly, eager to know more. So, once Spike figured it out that she’s about to try out one of the spells from the book, he protested, especially considering that the spell she’s about to use hasn’t even been tested before in Equestrian history. And unbeknownst to her, it was probably for a good reason.
“Don’t worry, Spike.” Twilight assured the little purple dragon. “I know what I’m doing.”
Twilight then rereads the spell directions one more time before nodding in confirmation. She readied herself, gathered up all of her strength, and with difficulty, shot a blast of magic onto the nearby wall, creating a blinding light that soon dimmed as a magenta vortex formed.
She looked in amazement. Despite her magic power, she had just successfully summoned an interdimensional portal.
“Oh my gosh…” She muttered as she summoned a notebook and quill and began jotting down notes. Though she was worn out from summoning that portal, “It actually worked!”
“Is it over, yet?” A voice called from upstairs.
“Not yet.” She replied, wondering if she should go through it herself, or wait for something to come through it from the other side before the portal disappears. She waited, and waited, and waited. Not about to risk getting killed on the other side, she threw a nearby apple she originally planned on eating through the portal.
She sighed in defeat. “Okay, Spike.” She hollered upstairs. “You can come back down, now.”
Small, faint footsteps can be heard as the little purple dragon walked downstairs, still worried about the gaping vortex leading to nowhere on the wall. Though Spike took her word for it, he still felt unsure. She cannot deactivate the portal, so for Celestia knows how long, they’re gonna have to deal with it being around in the library and hopefully, it won’t suck in or spit out anything.
But as it turned out. It did spit out something. Because once Twilight and Spike were about to conclude that this portal will simply idle there for the remainder of its life, several unfamiliar objects came tumbling through the portal and landed on the floor with a thud. They all look very large, and Twilight and Spike couldn’t even recognize them at first, but as each of them got up, it’s been revealed that they’re ape-like creatures, wearing some type of clothing. They also have a robot-looking thing built to look like them.
Twilight was both fascinated and a bit unnerved by their size and lanky appearances. Some look a bit disturbing to look at, like the hooded creature, whose face is obscured by its overcasting shadow, giving him an ominous and creepy appearance.
The robot was the first one to speak, “Who Are you?”
Spike then ran behind Twilight in fear, and Twilight glanced at him reassuringly and then back at the ape-like creatures, hoping they’re all friendly. The robot stared at her, anticipating a response. The rest of the unknown creatures stared at the purple unicorn, who looked to be about half their height, with dark violet hair and a lighter purple and magenta stripe. Judging by the large eyelashes surrounding her eyes, the unicorn is a girl. Speaking of her eyes, they have purple irises much like the rest of her, but her eyes are so big, they take up half of her face, making her face very expressive—more than that of a regular horse or unicorn they’ve ever seen. In contrast, her snout is small and her head seemed slightly larger than the rest of her body. It almost reminded Hassium of how anime characters are drawn. She looked… kinda cute.
“T-Twilight Sparkle.” She got out.
“Twilight Sparkle?” The hooded man asked in disbelief in a creepy, distorted voice that vaguely resembled that of a man.
“I never heard anyone called that before.” The other commented. He was dressed in a blue uniform and seems to be wearing a bronze mask and crown, as if he were the king or the leader of this group of creatures.
“Are you all okay?” Twilight asked. “You’re all so… big.”
“And you and yo room are so small!” The other one replied in an accent similar to that of Applejack, wearing a simple red shirt, pants, and shoes. “You literally half my height, man.”
“Where are you from? Who are you all?” Twilight asked.
“We’re humans from the planet Earth.” The one dressed like Celestia’s royal guard answered. “I’m Aegeus Leos. And this is Hassium Hacker, General Müller, Copper King, Platinum Prince, Aiden Tremblay, Lorenzo, and the robot we just call TITANium.”—As he introduced each of the humans, he pointed to each one and called their names—“But we can’t stay here. We need to go—”
Just as they were all about to consider leaving, the portal shrunk until it disappeared into smoke. All of the humans stared in disbelief and hopelessness. They’re stuck here, now.
“Niech to cholera!!” Platinum Prince cursed in a language Twilight and Spike cannot recognize. “Portal zniknął, nie mamy jedzenia i nawet nie wiemy, gdzie jesteśmy!”
“Calm down.” Lorenzo assures. “I’m sure this librarian unicorn has some snacks here and can figure some way out of here, if that’s possible. But even so, we might have a new adventure for a change. We might’ve discovered a new world!”
“As much as I hate the idea of being forever stuck here and being unable to return to Earth to save mankind from vengeful supervillains, he may have a point.” Hassium commented. “I’m sure there’s a way out of this mess. After all, we’ve survived worse situations before.”
“By the way, who made that portal?” Aiden asked.
“I did.” Twilight replied. “I was just testing the spell, and it seems that the other end of the portal wound up on your planet.”
“Can you summon it back?” Leos asks.
“That one spell took a lot of energy to create.” Twilight answers, feeling sorry for herself. “I’m a bit too tired to perform the spell again right now. I’m sorry.”
“How long will it take for you to regain your energy?”
“I don’t even know. But until then, you guys can live in my basement, if you want.”
“I’d appreciate that.” Copper King thanked. “It better be big enough to fit all eight of us.”
“So, for the time being, we’re stuck here in an uncharted universe.” Platinum Prince said in bitter acceptance. “Now what?”
“I could send a letter to my teacher, Princess Celestia, and she can decide what to do from there.” Twilight suggested. “Now that I think about it, I’m not sure if all eight of you can fit here. Not to mention that you’re all twice my height.”
“Princess Celestia?” Hassium asked with a hint of suspicion. He never really liked royalty. “Who’s that?”
“She’s the ruler of Equestria alongside her younger sister, Luna. I’ll talk about Luna later, but all you need to know for now is that she’s my mentor and I was about to show this portal summoning spell book to her. She might be able to help you all.”
“Sounds good to me.” Lorenzo agreed.
“Let’s hope we can trust her.” Hassium said doubtfully.
“Well, since there isn’t much we can do here right now besides sit on our arses and wait for something crazy to happen or for someone else to find a way to get us home, I’m afraid we have no other option. Let us see what this Celestia can do for us.” Leos admits.
Twilight trotted over to her desk, summoned a quill, and wrote down her letter.
Dear, Princess Celestia. Today, I found that spell book you were talking about. And out of curiosity, I might’ve accidentally brought in some visitors from another world. I’m afraid I’m unable to perform the spell a second time. So, all I ask of you is, ‘is there another way to get these sentient creatures back to their home planet…’
“How do you spell Earth?” Twilight asked.
“E-A-R-T-H.” Lorenzo spelled out.
‘…Earth.’ Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle
She then hands the letter over to Spike.
“Spike, send this to Princess Celestia.” Twilight commanded.
Spike then blows green fire on the paper, and its ashes are carried by the wind out through an open window.
“What the hell?” Hassium blurted out in fear. “He just burned the letter!”
“Don’t worry. It’s magic fire.” Twilight assures him. “Now, while we wait for her to arrive, I have billions of questions for you.”
“No, humans don’t use magic.” Copper King admits immediately. “Magic doesn’t exist on Earth. So, we’re heavily reliant on technology and machines. In fact, humanity today is defined by technology. We, however, aren’t real humans. People categorize individuals like us as superhumans, people who are born with supernatural abilities, including superior physical strength, speed, durability, altered height, rubber limbs, extreme heat generation, and many others.”
“But unlike the aforementioned abilities, magic just doesn’t run in our DNA.” Leos added. “Humans are incapable of wielding magic even if we know how it works. The only ones who can aren’t even from Earth, and the only ways we can activate or even emit magic is through artificial means through the use of machines, like what he told you.”
“Interesting.” Twilight commented with a smile. “I gotta write this down somewhere.”
“She always writes stuff down.” Spike comments, rolling his eyes as Twilight summons a clipboard with paper and a pen so she can hastily jot down notes. “Wouldn’t say I blame her, though.”
“Yeah, ‘cause we’re probably the first humans to step foot in a land where unicorns exist.” Aiden agrees.
“Makes sense.” Lorenzo adds.
“There’s no guarantee that Celestia can help us.” Platinum Prince suggests.
“Well, she’s our best chance we have.” Leos argues. “It’s either that or we’re stuck here forever, leaving Switzerland defenseless.”
“Maybe you can tell us more about this place, Twilight.” Lorenzo asked. “We’re just as curious about you as you are about us. First off, why are you allowing us to stay in your basement. Most people would be very hesitant to let anyone enter their homes.”
Twilight glances around nervously and shrugs. She really didn't expect any of these questions, especially since none of them seem dangerous at all.
“Well, you guys do look different, or even creepy, but you haven’t done anything harmful yet. You all seem pretty nice, if not unwanting to stay here any longer.”
“I don’t know about that.” Hassium said, as if trying to admit something, but is too afraid to proceed. “We… have a little dark side. We’re superheroes, we fight crime, but we aren’t the brightest.”
“Leos mentioned Switzerland.” Twilight asked, trying to change the subject. “Is that another town?”
“It’s a country.” Leos replies. “The most peaceful land on Earth, and in human history. The only conflicts that happen involving Switzerland are between its own citizens.”
“That’s great to hear. Is Copper King an actual king?”
“By definition, no.” He replied. “I was the founder of this band of superheroes called the Periodics. It was co-founded by Platinum Prince, whom I used to serve with for decades. We were close friends, but now it’s like I’m dealing with a paranoid housewife.”
“Shut the hell up, Copper King.” Platinum Prince retorted.
“You’re only proving my point by wearing that ridiculous suit of armor and assortment of gadgets like you’re going to overthrow the Bolivian government.”
“I have my reasons for wearing it. This is my multipurpose uniform.”
Pinkie Pie just got done making cupcakes in Sugarcube Corner, and was about to gobble them up one by one, when she felt her Pinkie senses tingling. It was all too familiar to her, and once she felt that twitch on her tail, she knew what has just happened in Ponyville mere moments ago. Someone new has arrived in Ponyville. She knew she had to prepare a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party, and that idea alone fills her with excitement. Without a second thought, she zipped out through the front doors of Sugarcube Corner to the Golden Oak Library.
“I must wonder. If that suit of armor is gonna save you from a bear attack, then what is it made of?” Copper King demands.
“Wasn’t I supposed to ask the questions, here?” Twilight asks as Müller stares at Spike, who once again feels uneasy.
Platinum Prince sighs in frustration, ignoring Twilight. He only just begun wearing it recently.
“This is my personal suit of armor. It’s a combination of metals that I designed myself after years of research and experimentation. The main reason I wear this is because it protects me against bullets, blades, lasers, and explosions. It’s practically invincible!”
“So, do we just wait for Celestia to send a response letter or something, or is she gonna burst in here and welcome us as citizens?” Leos asked.
As if in response to his question, there was a knock on the front door.
“I got it.” Hassium said as he walked towards the door. As soon as he twisted the knob, the door slammed open, crushing Hassium to the wall adjacent to it. The one who opened the door is a vibrant, pink pony with a curly mane and tail in a slightly darker shade of pink. She has bright blue eyes and a wide smile that reveals a set of pearly white teeth much like a human. Leos can tell just by her eyes that she’s excited. She must love meeting new people.
“You didn’t tell me we have new visitors!” She said to Twilight quickly in her cute, high-pitched voice.
“Pinkie!?” Twilight asked. “How did you know—”
“Pinkie sense.” She turned to the superhumans. “What brings you here to Ponyville?” She asks.
“Ponyville?” Hassium asked in disbelief once Twilight swung the door shut, allowing him to walk freely again. “So, this isn’t Minecraft?”
“Nope!” The pink pony corrected. “This is Ponyville. The name’s Pinkie Pie, by the way. Nice to meet ya!”
The six superhumans glanced at each other, unsure at how to respond. Especially after how she spoke. She sounds and behaves like a hyperactive 6-year-old child after too much sugar—or a 19-year-old on cocaine.
“Nice to meet you too.” Leos replied after a few moments of awkward silence. “We just got here, so we’re a little lost. Do you know a way we can get home?”
“Nope! Only unicorns like Twilight can figure that out.” Pinkie denies. “But I can serve you up some fresh cupcakes!”
“I could go with some coffee, right about now.” Aiden suggests. “I’m tired as hell.”
“No problem!” Pinkie accepts. “But just to remind all of you, withhold your profanity. There are foals here.”
“Foals?” Copper King asks.
“Foals are children.” Twilight explains.
“You know her?” Lorenzo asked, pointing to Twilight.
“Yeah! I know everypony here.” Pinkie giggled, and the rest stopped in disbelief to glance at her (except TITANium and Müller), trying not to look nervous. It wasn’t just that she uses the pronoun ‘everypony’. It was that she stated that she knows everyone in the town, which was concerning.
Unless you live in a country with a nosey government like China or North Korea, humans on Earth cannot keep track of all the residents of a whole town, and those who do are often onto something involving mass kidnappings or even murders. The superhumans have met a couple of stalkers before, and one of them has a very unhealthy obsession with them.
Leos, however, didn’t mind, but for everyone’s safety, he was still curious as to how Pinkie knows everyone. Is she the mayor? Does she keep track of every citizen she sees the whole time she’s lived here?
“Everyone?” Platinum Prince asked.
“Yep.” Pinkie confirmed.
“Yeah, that’s not creepy at all.” Platinum Prince sarcastically commented just loud enough for Pinkie to hear. Lorenzo, Leos, and Copper King glanced at him. They don’t want to come off as rude to the pink pony even though their paranoia is a bit justifiable, but Pinkie just laughed.
“Don’t worry. I’m not like that.” She reassured as Twilight nodded in agreement. “I respect everyone’s privacy.”
“Sure thing, man.” Aiden says in agreement. He may be from the ghetto, but he’s still generally a nice guy.
Hassium looks back at the others uncertainly, then decides to ask Pinkie a question himself.
“What kind of ponies live in Ponyville? Are they real horses or fake ones like you see on TV?”
“We don’t have TVs, but there are lots of kinds of ponies.” Pinkie said brightly. “Like pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies!”
“Doesn’t sound like a lot” Lorenzo comments.
“Is there a way for you to get us home?” Platinum Prince asks as Müller starts staring at Pinkie, who put her right hoof to her chin as she thought. Some of the others thought that it’d be unhygienic for her to do so. Her hooves could very well be dirty since she walks and stands on all fours, and they don’t expect the floor to be all that clean.
“Well... no...” Pinkie explains. “But Twilight is the smarty one. She’ll figure it out for ya. But I’m sure that would be a nice place to visit someday.” Suddenly she jumped into the air and gasped for one whole second while also remaining in the air like some cartoon character before landing on her legs. “I almost forgot!”
She then placed down a vibrant, colorful cart she pulled from nowhere, and after pressing a button on said cart, horns of various sizes playing upbeat music popped out of it and she proceeded to sing her ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ song as one of the superhumans called her name twice over the music. She only fell silent just as she was about to finish, when six out of eight superhumans (excluding TITANium and Müller) yelled her name in unison to get her attention.
Her infectious smile fell.
“What? You guys didn’t enjoy the song?” She asked in confusion and disappointment.
“We appreciate you giving us a warm welcome, but we’re need a place to stay since Twilight’s basement won’t fit all eight of us.” Lorenzo said politely to her despite his frustration just moments ago.
“It’s just what Pinkie does.” Twilight explains. “I’m sure you’ll get used to it.”
“Now, what can we do while we wait for further instructions from Twilight's teacher?”
“I say we take a look.” Copper King suggests. “We might as well get used to wherever we’re at.”
“Feel free to do so! Since my warm welcome is done, I’d love to show you around.” Pinkie agrees. Copper King was the first to follow Pinkie out of the Golden Oak library, kneeling down to fit through the short doorway. Everyone else followed suit, and once they got outside, they were met with interested and confused looks from the other ponies that inhabit the town.
“Oh God...” Platinum Prince says under his breath.
“What kind of hippie-ass neighborhood did we just get ourselves into?” Hassium comments, gazing upon the vibrant town of Ponyville, and Pinkie looks at him in mild annoyance at his profanity.
“Are you always like that?” Pinkie asks Hassium.
“All of us are.”
“They’re all watching us…” Platinum Prince warns.
“Ignore them.” Leos orders. “Just shut the hell up and let me and Copper King do the talking.”
“Sugarcube Corner is this way!” Pinkie Pie instructs, and the superhumans follow. Twilight and Spike follow them, figuring that whatever Pinkie’s got planned can ease the tension. Platinum Prince’s paranoia isn’t doing anyone any favors, though. The whole way to Sugarcube Corner, ponies gave the superhumans looks ranging from confused to intimidated. Hassium didn’t care since almost everyone feared him. They arrive there and Aiden was eager to just grab a quick cup of coffee, and Pinkie was willing to give it to him for free just this once since he’s new. Aiden just sat in a random table, not caring how far it is from the front desk. When Pinkie was about to deliver it, Aiden’s right arm just extended all the way over there to grab it and he brought it over to his table, his arm returning to its normal length, before drinking it. Twilight, Spike, and Pinkie were impressed and naturally curious as to how can he do that. He simply shrugged his shoulders.
“I’m a superhero.” He explained as best as he can. “I was born with the power to stretch and bend in ways that wouldn’t have been possible for a normal human. It’s kinda hard to explain.”
“Oh, I want you to meet my friends.” Pinkie offers. “Twilight and Spike seem to take an interest in you. I’m sure the others would love to see you all.”
“I’m more interested in finding an apartment to rent.” Leos declines.
“Don’t worry. They won’t bite.”
“We’ll just meet back at the library.” Twilight suggested.
Pinkie agrees, but figured that eight humans and six ponies wouldn’t fit. So, Twilight decided they all should meet outside. Twilight’s friends introduced themselves as Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. They were just as curious as the other townsponies were about the humans. Fluttershy felt frightened by their height and by Hassium’s dark and shady appearance. Rarity isn’t too pleased either, but it’s mostly due to the clothes Hassium is wearing. Pinkie was the one to introduce the superheroes to them after Twilight, with the help of the superheroes themselves, told Pinkie their names.
“This is my four-thousand-five-hundred-something-year-old friend, Leos.” Hassium finalized after everyone else was introduced.
“I’m four thousand five hundred fifty-four.” Leos corrected, pitiful at Hassium’s stupidity. Lorenzo couldn’t help but think they’re all cute looking, especially Rarity.
“Four thousand?” Rainbow echoes in disbelief.
“Yes.” Leos confirms. “You could say I’m like Celestia—one of those gods or goddesses whose age exceed the triple digits.”
“Time’s been much kinder on you.” Applejack comments. “Y’all don't look a day over thirty. Does he age a bit slower than us, or what?”
“That guy scares me.” Fluttershy alerts everyone, shuddering at Müller’s stare.
“He won’t hurt you.” Lorenzo assures, putting a hand up to his head as if unsure if what he’s saying is true. “At least not if you give him a reason not to.”
“What’s with the backpack and that strange contraption?” Rarity asks.
“That’s just his stuff. He always carries it around him.” Platinum Prince explains.
“Let’s say most of it is for self-defense purposes.” Hassium adds vaguely. “Now, I’m gonna go and find us a place to stay for a while.”
Before anyone else can say anything, Hassium flies off, accelerating to high speeds.
“He can fly!?” Rainbow Dash asked in disbelief.
“Yes.” Copper King replied.
“By the way, if you got any supervillains that need to get their arses kicked, then don’t forget to call upon us.” Lorenzo suggested.
“We’re wondering if there’s a hotel or a house we can rent.” Aiden asks. “Do y’all accept American dollars?”
“Dollars? Never heard of ‘em.” Applejack said, shaking her head.
“Here in Equestria, we use bits instead.” Pinkie adds. “Never a thing called dollars.”
“What are bits?”
“One eighth of a dollar, or twelve and a half cents.” Leos explained. “Though, I wouldn’t recommend just handing twelve and a half pennies. They probably have their own form of coins.”
“I best be goin’, now.” Applejack interrupts. “Someone like Leo can help us with the farm. Catch you all later.”
“It’s Leos.” He corrected.
“Yeah, those flying skills aren’t gonna practice themselves.” Rainbow Dash adds. “It was nice meeting somepony new, though.”
“That Hassium guy needs a makeover.” Rarity complains. “But if he needs me, I’ll be sewing dresses.”
“See ya!” Pinkie says, waving the three goodbye.
“What a waste of time…” Platinum Prince whispers.
Hassium peeks into yet another window of a random house and forgets the sign that says ‘HOTEL’ on it in English mounted near the front door. When he does notice it, he walks in through the doors, dumbfounded, bumping his head on the doorway because of how tall he is. He didn’t bother to rub his head or even felt the urge to yelp I pain or drop an f-bomb, as humans mostly do.
“Oh, hi.” The mare at the desk greeted nervously. “You seem new here. Are you alright?”
“Yes, I am.” Hassium stated bluntly. “Just looking for a room I can buy for myself and my seven buddies. We were hoping that someone can help us return to our home planet, but since there’s little your ruling princess can do at the moment, we all agreed to just take a look around this place and at least make ourselves at home until they can figure something out. Do you think you can arrange us eight rooms or four rooms that can fit two of each of us, or two rooms that can fit four of us?”
“Actually, yes, all eight of you can fit in here. However, there are only five rooms here, and each room has only two bedrooms—”
“Great, then I’ll go with that. How much does it cost?”
Hassium pulls out a stack of dollar bills.
“Just fifty bits.”
“Bits?? What are those?”
“Well, since you’re new here and from a different planet, bits are certainly not whatever you got in your hand. They’re coins made of gold.”
“You do transactions with gold??”
“Yes. They don’t do it on your planet?”
“Nope! It seems like your country’s got more gold than China and Australia combined. No country on Earth can afford to make a trillion gold coins and use that as their currency. But fine. Fifty gold coins coming up.”
Hassium puts his American money back in his pocket and proceeds to walk right out of the hotel, bumping his head on the doorway again, but acting like he doesn’t care. Nevertheless, it once again startled the mare, who was about to tell him to be careful, but he was already gone. Hassium returns, making sure to duck under the doorway this time, with exactly 50 bits, feeling like he just won the lottery by carrying those 50 gold coins let alone any gold. Unbeknownst to the mare, Hassium had to rob several ponies to get the money, and while it goes against his superhero code, this isn’t Hassium’s first time doing something like this, and it sure as hell won’t be the last.
“This is a very small hotel.” Hassium remarked, letting down the 50 bits.
“Yeah… All the rooms are vacant since we barely get any business.”
“Might wanna make the door taller, and I’ll consider a five-star rating. I’ll let my friends know so they can move their crap in.”
Hassium leaves out through the door, leaving the mare surprised he was able to obtain 50 bits so quickly, despite never even knowing what they are before, which made her suspicious and half grateful for the money anyway.
The rest of the Periodics were unsure of what to do, conversing with Twilight and Pinkie and answering their various questions. So far, they’re very secretive about the concept of guns and the many other complex methods and weapons of destruction. What they would gladly show, though, are their powers. Thankfully, Hassium came to inform his comrades about a hotel they would be staying for a while. So, they bid their farewells to Twilight and Pinkie and followed Hassium to the hotel, where the desk mare gave them confused but accepting looks. She feels worried that there’d be little room left, but she figured 50 bits a week would be enough to sustain herself. For the next few hours, this is where the superhumans made themselves at home.